Dual registrations surface in Virginia

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http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-local_registrations_1031oct31,0,7159877.story

Virginia voters have requested Pennsylvania absentee ballots.

October 31, 2008

RICHMOND - A GOP official in Hampton has found what he believes is a potentially troubling trend: newly registered voters in Virginia who have also requested absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.

Mike Wade, chairman of the GOP 3rd Congressional District Committee, has turned over his findings to the State Board of Elections. The board, in turn, has contacted the state police and Pennsylvania officials.

Wade said he compared Virginia rolls to only eight localities in Pennsylvania, concentrating on 18- to 25-year-olds who recently registered. He said he found 350 people with dual registrations and, of those, about 40 had registered in Virginia and requested absentee ballots in Pennsylvania.

"I've been very deliberative about this," said Wade, "because it is supportive of a larger problem."

Elections Board Secretary Nancy Rodrigues said she has turned over the names to state police. If someone is caught voting twice, she said, "I will do everything in our power to make sure that person comes before the law."

Montgomery County Registrar E. Randall Wertz, whose jurisdiction includes Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, said he was not surprised by the findings.

"It's very possible for that to happen,"said Wertz, who chairs the Voter Registrars' Association of Virginia. "If an individual fills out a voter registration form and they don't tell us they are previously registered, we would have no idea if they were."

Dual registration
Less than two weeks ago, Wertz said his office received a call from a young woman who had her Virginia voter card and just received an absentee ballot in the mail from her home state of Maryland. She didn't know what to do.

"You can't vote in two places and you shouldn't be registered in two places," he said he told her. "You need to cancel registration at one of those places."

Rebecca Glenberg, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said a person typically does not cancel his or her voter registration in a previous state after moving, and may be temporarily registered in both places. It doesn't necessarily translate into criminal intent.

"It happens quite often when people move from one state to another," she said, "and students are a pretty mobile group."

College students
Controversy over student registrations surfaced in September after Wertz issued a press release warning Virginia Tech students that they could lose residence-based financial aid and face other problems if they registered to vote in Virginia. He quickly issued a second release that used more precise language from the state.

The board also issued guidelines on registering college students that are now posted on its Web site ( www.sbe.virginia.gov). It says the student is responsible for determining residency, and that a dorm or college address can be accepted.

Wade, who filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the board the yielded dozens of e-mails, criticized the office of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for getting involved.

E-mails show that Wayne Turnage, Kaine's chief of staff, suggested changes to the guidelines. It came after supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama began pushing to register students.

Kaine is an ardent Obama supporter and was on Obama's short list for vice presidential candidates. Wade said that raises questions in his mind.

Kaine spokeswoman Delacey Skinner said there was nothing improper about the involvement of the governor's office. She said the office often acts as a "second set of eyes" when releases or guidelines are being issued from state agencies.

Rodrigues said the board did not accept all of Turnage's suggestions, and the new guidelines also had input from the office of Attorney General Bob McDonnell, a Republican.